In this guest post, Rachel Wright of Health Education England invites teachers, career advisors and work experience coordinators to provide input on work-experience in the NHS.

Health Education England (HEE) is conducting research to improve how young people between the ages of 14 and 18 can access work experience opportunities within health and care. As part of this research, HEE wants to learn from those who support young people making decisions about work experience as part of their professional role e.g., as a school teacher, careers advisor or work experience coordinator.

HEE exists to support the delivery of excellent healthcare by ensuring that the workforce of today and tomorrow has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours, at the right time and place. As part of this, HEE are committed to putting in place a healthcare workforce which is representative of the communities we serve, with particular focus on widening access for those who are underrepresented within our existing workforce, or from lower socioeconomic and deprived areas and those from minority backgrounds so that we can better understand the needs of patients and provide more effective care.

The Widening Access and Participation Team (WAP) within HEE are focusing on work experience and pre-employment activity because historically, individuals taking up these activities have typically come from more advantaged communities. By conducting research to improve how young people can access work experience and pre-employment activities within health and care, we can widen access to health careers for under-represented groups and inspire the next generation of young people, from all backgrounds, to consider a career in the NHS.

The WAP team appreciate the role that teachers, career advisors and work experience coordinators play in supporting young people to make decisions about work experience opportunities so therefore including this group in the research and getting their views is extremely important.

If you are a teacher, careers advisor or work experience coordinator within a school or college who currently supports young people considering work experience opportunities and would like to participate in this research, please use this form to register your interest in taking part: https://lnkd.in/eyAEQKmN

Registering your interest will take less than 5 minutes. You just need to answer a few questions about yourself, your availability for research, and your contact details to participate in the research.